25 years ago, for a community planning event called ‘Renew Kentish Town’, landscape architect Marie Clarke produced a vision for the future development of the Kentish Town goodsyard sites, ie. the Regis Road industrial area and land owned by Murphy, the construction company. Her proposal included:
- a dense mixed-use development would replace the Regis Road industrial area to the south of the railway, providing the capital to regenerate the area
- to the north of the railway, a new Parkway would extend from the heart of Kentish Town to Hampstead Heath and Parliament Hill
- at the heart of the proposal is a a new courtyard square, extending the existing road bridge over the railway tracks by Kentish Town Station, with an integrated transport interchange with commercial and public space.
This community vision has been lost, due to development trends pushing up land values and making the high-rise, over-dense development the norm. Camden Council seems to have lost the plot, selling off valuable public assets to Yoo Capital for a massive film studio complex, which is out of place for Kentish Town, a large, single use removing the potential for a diverse business economy.
In Folgate Estates’ new proposal (below), the idea of a green Parkway has become a narrow pedestrian route, with trees, overshadowed by large blocks of new apartments.
above: the approved ‘Camden Film Quarter’ by Yoo Capital on the left (south) of the railway; ‘Murphy’s Yard’ proposal by Folgate Estates on the right
above: the narrow pedestrian route to the Heath
As with the previous ‘Murphy Yard’ scheme (withdrawn in 2023) no consideration has been made of the need to protect the peace and privacy of Kentish Town Farm, an important community space – there is a wall of high buildings directly overlooking it. This would also severely impact residents of Meru and Hemingway Closes (see below).
Another aspect that has been overlooked by planners and developers is the need to address the very poor road junction where Regis Road connects to Kentish Town Road, narrow pavements and dangerous crossings. This was highlighted by Kentish Town Neighbourhood Forum in the Kentish Town Neighbourhood plan of 2016, where a project for a CIL money was prioritised. The plan reads as follows:
The following photos show the congested pavements in the area around Kentish Town station in 2015:
There are two phases for the Kentish Town Square project, as presented in the Kentish Town Neighbourhood Plan, Phase 1 being short term improvements, Phase 2 including a new station and significant new public space. Given that the plan is now 10 years old, improvements are overdue.
Neither Yoo Capital or Folgate Estates are addressing the need to create a proper public space for Kentish Town. There is an opportunity for a new improved station built over the railway tracks which would be major improvement for residents of Kentish Town, together with more generous pavements and public space. This is required for the proposed population increase of around 10,000 in NW5, as planned by Camden Council. It requires the input of Network Rail, Transport for London and Camden Council.
Otherwise the development of Kentish Town’s goodsyard will be just another piece of opportunistic infill on dead-end access roads, with no improvement to existing streets and public infrastructure.
